1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to door openers, particularly door-latch openers, and more particularly push door-latch openers with a fire-safety lock suitable for use in hospitals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of push/pull door-latch openers in hospitals and other places is now quite common. Their use is advantageous because they allow doors which are conventionally latched closed to be opened with only one motion. Specifically, the side of the door having the pull handle is opened by merely pulling on the handle, which both slides the latch bolt to the open position and pulls the door open. Similarly, the side of the door having the push handle is opened by merely pushing the handle, which both slides the latch bolt to the open position and pushes the door open. This ease of operation is particularly useful in hospitals where employees frequently have their hands occupied thereby preventing an employee from firmly grasping a door knob and turning it. The push/pull door latches also allow a person to open a door without the use of his hands, by merely pushing the push handle with his body or pulling the pull handle with an arm.
Presently, the push door-latch openers used employ an upwardly-directed handle. However, the push door-latch openers presently employed have proven to be undesirable for two important reasons. First, the upwardly-directed handle poses a definite safety hazard in that it provides a dangerous projection upon which people may fall and injure themselves, and it provides a projection with which people and paraphernalia may become entangled. Secondly, the present push door-latch openers are not provided with a fire-safety lock and their present construction makes it difficult to so provide.
Recently, it has become a requirement imposed by both hospitals and governmental agencies that hospital room doors be provided with a means for locking them during fires. It is the purpose of this fire-safety requirement to keep doors closed during fires in order to reduce the amount of oxygen fed to the fire and thereby aid in controlling the spread of the fire. It is also necessary to lock the door in a manner so as to prevent the door from being accidentally opened during a fire, such as by being opened by the force of falling objects or by the force of the high-pressure water used to fight the fire. The doors to hospital rooms are built to open inwardly, thereby requiring a push handle on the outside and a pull handle on the inside. This is done so that doors will not unexpectedly swing open into hallways. To avoid trapping patients within the rooms, only the push handle on the outside of the room is provided with a fire-safety lock, and thereby still allowing a patient to open the door from the inside.
It is the primary object of this invention to provide a novel push door-latch opener.
It is another object of this invention to provide a push door-latch opener with a downwardly-directed handle.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a push door-latch opener having a heat-actuated fire-safety lock.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.